The micro tip structure for electronic components testing is disclosed in prior arts. Semiconductors or microprocessors manufactured in large volume on a silicon wafer should be subject to a fault inspection prior to the individual semiconductor wafer being divided into each element. In order to detect an electric defect of an element, a probe tip associated with a testing device comes into contact with each element and sends input signals to them. The testing device then detects a fault on each element based on response signals from each element. The micro elements are densely fabricated in large volume, thus the probe for testing needs to have sufficiently high density.
Electronic components are mass manufactured in small size. A plurality of electrode pads associated with a plurality of electronic components is arranged in a regular form and every probe should contact with corresponding electrode pads. The whole size of probe may be hundreds of μm and the size of both contact tip and electrode pad may be tens of μm. During the testing of electronic components, hundreds or thousands of connecting elements or contact tips are simultaneously brought into contact with the same number of electrode pads, make scrubs on each of the surface of an electrode pad by a pre-determined pressure, send signals and separate from the electrode pad. This process is repeated during the entire process.
The connecting element and the contact tip should have a structure required for making a scrub on the electrode pad at a pre-determined position in a regular form and maintaining its form during the repeated contact process, and simultaneously, the location of the contact tip for making a scrub on the electrode pad should be determined.
The structures of connecting elements in various forms have been disclosed in prior arts. KR Pat. No. 267,836 entitled “A hollowness typed probe tip and a method for producing it” discloses a plurality of tips forming a part of a sphere for separation and contact between a probe cards. WO 2005/085877 discloses a contact tip with a plurality of protrusions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,875 discloses a probe with a thin plate beam and a pyramid structure contact tip and U.S. Pat. No. 6,825,422 discloses a contact tip with a blade. The technologies disclosed in prior arts relate to the process of a contact tip contacting with and separating from electrode pads, but they don't specify a structure of contact tip or a form of scrub. They don't disclose where to dispose the contact tip on electrode tips in order to make a scrub at a pre-determined position. The structure of the connecting element should be determined depending on the form of a scrub on the electrode pad. Further, the contact tip needs to be arranged in a regular position on the electrode pad such that the contact tip causes a scrubbing in a regular form. The present invention relates to a contact tip structure of a connecting element which makes a pre-determined form of scrub and a method of arranging the contact tip which makes a scrub at a pre-determined position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact tip with a structure making a scrub on an electrode pad in a regular form.
It is other object of the present invention to provide a contact tip with a structure compensating vertical height errors between connecting elements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of disposing a contact tip in order that the contact tip makes a scrub at a pre-determined position.